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From November 28-30, more than 500 leaders from the insurance industry will come together at the Connected Insurance USA Summit 2018. Held this year at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in in Chicago, this essential insurance industry event is three conferences in one, combining the core pillars of Innovative Technology, Customer Engagement and Product Development into one. The goal of the conference is to provide organizations with the necessary strategies they need to transform and survive the future of the insurance industry.

Attendees of Connected Insurance USA include executives in key roles from underwriting, product development, marketing, customer, tech, data, analytics, claims and more. This year, AmTrust’s own Scott Stevens, Vice President of Underwriting, Workers’ Compensation, will speak at the event, sharing his experience, expertise and thoughts around certain industry trends and challenges.

What to Expect at Connected Insurance USA in 2018

There’s no doubt that today’s insurance carriers must deliver more responsive, personalized and connected services to meet increasing expectations from customers. Join the insurance community at Connected Insurance USA to learn how to face common challenges with your peers, connect with colleagues from other departments and meet some of the most influential players in insurance.

At this leading insurance-industry conference, attendees will receive insights on:

Innovative Technology

Learn how to integrate innovative tech to align strategies with your business objectives, as well to grow market share and boost your bottom line.

Customer Engagement

Win and retain more customers by fully understanding what they want, while delivering a seamless, omnichannel customer experience across all buyer stages.

Product Development

Find out how to refine insurance products and services to align with the shift towards risk prevention, while also understanding how to provide the personalized, relevant and valuable products your customers seek.

Reaching the Connected Customer

There’s still time to register for the 2018 Connected Insurance USA Summit and get the tools needed to ensure your organization thrives in this “customer age of insurance.”

AmTrust has always had the belief that as you get bigger, you also have to get better. As a top commercial insurer in the nation, our investments in people and proprietary technology have allowed us to offer the most innovative insurance products to meet our customers’ needs, both today and tomorrow.

Move over, maple-glazed doughnuts and pumpkin lattes. All October long, foodies across America are celebrating National Pizza Month. And who can blame them? That fusion of gooey cheese, tangy tomato sauce and sliced pepperoni – all adorning oven-baked dough – is nothing short of sublime.

In the spirit of pizza – and big appetites – AmTrust Financial has a wonderful opportunity for our agent partners to, dare we say, get a bigger slice of the pie.

If you’re ready to see your agency’s revenue rise, AmTrust has an extensive menu of product offerings. Here’s a taste:

1. Workers’ Compensation. To extend the pizza metaphor, let’s liken our workers’ comp coverage to pizza dough. It’s the foundation of our business, so we know all the key ingredients. Like a large coverage appetite, a solid understanding of applicable laws, a comprehensive loss control program, attentive claims management and agent-centric technology.

2. Cyber Liability. Much like spicy Italian sausage or jalapeno peppers, cyberattacks can put a lot of heat on business owners who aren’t prepared. AmTrust-appointed agents can easily add cyber liability insurance to a policyholder’s existing coverage. Realizing the damage a cyberattack can cause, we offer appointed agents access to a comprehensive risk management website, packed full of loss control content designed to educate and prepare your customers, reducing the likelihood of a devastating breach.

3. BOP. The key ingredient in our Business Owners Policy coverage is value. A BOP bundles the major coverages many small business owners need – including General Liability, Property, Equipment Breakdown and Business Interruption Insurance – into one affordable policy. For additional protection, our Basic, Plus and Blanket enhancement endorsements offer over 80 different supplemental coverages. As an agent, you can offer a BOP as a stand-alone product or in conjunction with our other lines of coverage.

4. EPLI. An employee lawsuit can be a lot tougher to digest than a slice of under-baked pizza. Comprehensive and affordable, our Employment Practices Liability Insuranceearns AmTrust-appointed agents a 15 percent commission. Coverage can be automatically added onto qualifying policies, and there’s no minimum premium.

5. Commercial Package. Like cheese on a pizza, a commercial package policy (CPP)provides plenty of coverage. Designed to meet the complex insurance needs of growing small and mid-sized businesses, a CPP offers broader coverage options and higher policy limits than a BOP. In addition to General Liability and Property Insurance, available coverages include Employment Practices Liability (EPLI), Cyber Liability, Discontinued Product Liability and Occurrence Insurance.

The concept of Inland Marine insurance may be hard to wrap your head around, especially since the terms “marine” and “inland” seem to contradict each other. So what does inland marine insurance cover and how can agents help their clients understand how it protects their business from liability?

A brief history of Inland Marine insurance

When business insurance was in its infancy, Ocean Marine insurance covered ships from losses acquired on their way to port. For example, if any goods were damaged from your ship getting caught in a storm, Ocean Marine insurance would compensate you for some of those financial losses.

This offered businesses sufficient coverage when boats were the primary means for shipping.

But over time, more businesses began transporting goods over rivers and land by trains, trucks, barges, and buses. Cargo still needed to be protected, so insurers began offering inland marine policies as a branch of ocean marine coverage.

What does commercial inland marine cover?

In general, commercial Inland Marine insurance covers any property that is movable, transportable, or involved in transferring information. For example, these are some things that Inland Marine insurance might cover:

Contractor’s equipment

Valuable artwork, like paintings, photographs, and sculptures

Transportation equipment such as food trucks or cargo vans

Mobile tools and equipment for construction, landscaping, etc.

Property in transit like construction tools and supplies

Computer equipment, including servers and laptops

Communication equipment and networking tools

Scientific and medical equipment

What are inland marine risks?

If you’re thinking about getting Inland Marine insurance, it’s important to consider the nature of your business operations. While it was developed to protect against losses while shipping goods, Inland Marine insurance may protect your business against a myriad of other property damage risks. Some of these include:

Bailee’s customer coverage: This is designed to protect your business from liability if a client’s’ property is damaged in your care, like if you operate a repair shop.

Exhibition and fine art coverage: If a valuable piece of artwork is on display, in transit, or on loan, exhibition and fine art coverage is designed to protect it.

Installation floater: This can cover goods from damage once they’re loaded on a truck until they are put to use.

Motor truck cargo coverage: When your business is transporting goods or delivering them to a client, this coverage can protect goods from damage.

Does my business need Inland Marine insurance?

If you’re considering Inland Marine coverage, your insurance agent can help you decide if it’s right for your business. Often, Inland Marine is included in a BOP or package and is bundled with other coverages such as crime, general liability and property.

Are you ready for what the future holds for the commercial insurance industry? Technology continues to be a growing force that is rapidly changing how we do business, and agents who embrace and learn these new advancements will be in the best position to help their clients be successful and capitalize on opportunities.

Join AmTrust’s Matt Zender (Senior Vice President of Workers’ Compensation Product) and Scott Stevens (Vice President of Underwriting) as they speak about the ch

The free webinar, “How to Build an Innovation-Ready Foundation,” is sponsored by Insurance Nexus and takes place Wednesday, Sept. 19th at 11:00 AM (CT)/12:00 PM (EST).allenges and advantages of underwriting in a digital age and the transforming insurance landscape.

Featuring speakers from several leading insurance companies, topics discussed from industry thought leaders will help listeners learn how to:

Embed a Culture of Innovation: Develop an appetite for innovation, adopt a “test-and-learn” methodology and bring the whole team along for the journey

When it comes to workers’ comp insurance, every business wants options and value. At AmTrust, we can help you provide your customers with both. Main street businesses all over the country, and all over Pennsylvania, rely on the AmTrust name because we offer:

Customized coverage, backed by the services and financial strength of a Fortune® 500 company

Equip your customers with the resources, training and confidence they need to create – and maintain – a safe workplace.

Loss control specialists provide every insured with an in-depth risk assessment, on-demand safety education, expert training and ongoing support

Strategic approach to loss control will lead to not only increased safety, but also direct cost savings for your customers’ businesses

4. We provide unparalleled claims management.

Averaging more than 20 years of experience per adjusters

Our claims adjusters are able to maintain focus due to below industry average workloads – AmTrust adjusters handle 115 claims per month vs 140, the industry average

Team approach to the claims-filing process between the injured worker, employer and medical professional. In Pennsylvania, our triage-trained nurse case managers assess each severe injury and then work with an adjuster to ensure the claim is filed successfully

Allows you and your policyholders to view policies and claim details whenever and wherever it’s convenient

With our Direct Submit system, you can generate a quote indication that will be submitted directly to an underwriter for consideration

6. We give customers a say in how they pay.

To help you accommodate your customers, AmTrust offers an array of payment options.

These include AmTrust AutoPay (direct debit), electronic check (online or by phone) and Pay-As-You-Owe® (PAYO®).

PAYO® offers a simplified automated process that eliminates the need to write checks or pay individual invoices to maintain coverage. It also allows policyholders to bind their workers’ comp coverage without putting any money down at the inception – or renewal – of a policy.

Supporting you every step of the way

At AmTrust, our commitment to your success doesn’t end the moment a policy is written. It continues throughout your relationship with your customers. Whatever you need to support them – from our submission platforms to our payment options – we have you covered.

For 20 years, AmTrust has been helping our agents protect small and mid-sized businesses across America. We understand the unique challenges you face today in both growing your book of business and protecting your insureds. One of our proven business tools to help you do so, is PAYO® (Pay-As-You-Owe®), a seamless workers’ comp payment solution. AmTrust PAYO continues to grow in popularity across the country with agents and insureds of all sizes. And you’ll be happy to know that each of our Three PAYO Solutions allows you to remain agent of record to help you build a profitable workers’ comp book of business.

PAYO Benefits to You

1. Proven sales tool to create and close more new business and proactively protect your renewals

2. Strengthen your insured retention as seamless renewals and simplified audit makes it less likely for your insured to shop at renewal

3. Defend your book of business against the large national payroll agencies and PEOs that sell insurance

4. Save your agency time, and money by reducing the chance of cancellation, reinstatement and premium collection issues. This will also save your insured money on late payment fees and reinstatement fees.

5. Receive your regular full work comp commission and reduce the chance of commission chargebacks

6. Easy to qualify for an AmTrust PAYO quote on all Three PAYO Solutions

Risk must meet AmTrust underwriting guidelines

Risk must generate a minimum of a $1,000 in annual work comp premium

7. Easy to quote and bind PAYO accounts though AmTrust Online. You can select PAYO or PSR – PAYO Self Reporting from the payment drop-down box on the quote indication screen.

8. Offer your insureds a PAYO solution any time during the policy period

9. AmTrust helps you gain the competitive edge needed in today’s marketplace by providing you with three comprehensive workers’ comp Pay-As-You-Owe solutions. You remain the agent of record and local insurance expert on each.

Traditional PAYO – Automated solution – Offer your insured the ability to stay with their current payroll company or choose one from our local AmTrust approved payroll partner network. Establish a reciprocal referring relationship with one or more AmTrust approved payroll partners on a local level. Great new business lead source. Ask us for our approved payroll partners list for your region.

3rd Party Facilitator – Automated solution – Offer your insured the ability to stay with their payroll company of choice and still keep you as their local insurance expert. Helps when competing against national payroll agencies.

PAYO Self Reporting (PSR) add flyer link – Offer your insured the ability to self-report their payroll, based on their desired payment frequency. Works well for insureds using Intuit / QuickBooks, proprietary payroll software, national payroll companies or other payroll software. A $200 premium bearing deposit is required.

Unfortunately, any small business could face the risk of a data breach or cyber attack. Regardless of how big or small your business is, if your data, important documents or customer information is exposed, recovering from the aftermath could be difficult.

If your business is the victim of a cyber attack and you’re wondering what to do after a data breach, consider the following steps to help minimize the damage.1. Contain the breach

While you may be tempted to delete everything after a data breach occurs, preserving evidence is critical to assessing how the breach happened and who was responsible. The very first step you should take after a breach is to determine which servers have been compromised and to contain them as quickly as possible to ensure that other servers or devices won’t also be infected.

Here are a few immediate things you can do to attempt to contain a data breach:

Disconnect your internet

Disable remote access

Maintain your firewall settings

Install any pending security updates or patches

Change passwords

You should change all affected or vulnerable passwords immediately. Create new, strong passwords for each account, and refrain from reusing the same passwords on multiple accounts. That way, if a data breach happens again in the future, the damage may be limited.

2. Assess the breach

If you are one victim of a broader attack that’s affected multiple businesses, follow updates from trusted sources charged with monitoring the situation to make sure you know what to do next. Whether you’re part of a broader attack or the sole victim, you’ll also need to determine the cause of the breach within your specific facility so you can work to help prevent the same kind of attack from happening again. Ask yourself:

Who has access to the servers that were infected?

Which network connections were active when the breach occurred?

How was the attack initiated?

You may be able to pinpoint how the breach was initiated by checking your security data logs through your firewall or email providers, your antivirus program, or your Intrusion Detection System. If you have difficulty determining the source and scope of the breach, consider hiring a qualified cyber investigator – it may be worth the investment to help protect yourself moving forward.

Identify those affected by the breach

You’ll also need to find out who may have been affected by the breach, including employees, customers, and third-party vendors. Assess how severe the data breach was by determining what information was accessed or targeted, such as birthdays, mailing addresses, email accounts, and credit card numbers.

Educate your staff about data breach protocols

Your employees should be aware of your business’s policies regarding data breaches. After discovering the cause of the breach, adjust and communicate your security protocols to help ensure the same type of incident doesn’t occur again. Consider restricting your employees’ access to data based on their job roles. You should also regularly train your employees about how to prepare for a data breach or avoid a data breach in the first place.

3. Manage the fallout

Notify managers and employees of the breach

Communicate with your staff to let them know what happened. Remaining on the same page with your team is crucial while your business is recovering from a data breach. You may need to consult with legal counsel to figure out the best way to let your customers know about the breach.

If you have cyber liability insurance, notify your carrier

Cyber liability insurance is designed to help you recover from a data breach or cyber security attack. Contact your carrier as soon as possible to see how they can help assist you with what to do after a cyber attack. If you don’t have a cyber liability insurance policy, AmTrust’s appointed agents can assist you in the process of selecting cyber liability coverage that could help with costs associated with addressing future cyber incidents.

Notify customers

Emphasize your willingness to be transparent with your customers by considering a special action hotline specifically to address questions from affected individuals. Communication can be key to maintaining positive, professional relationships with your patrons.

A data breach can be stressful, but as long as you take the right steps, your business will be better prepared to recover successfully. Moving forward, conduct frequent security checks to help reduce the likelihood of an incident occurring again in the future.